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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · cold · tube · rule · pound · trunk · track · bat

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cold — not warm
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. pound — a weight
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. track — a song
  9. track — a path
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. deal — to handle
  12. track — to keep track
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. tube — a container
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. rule — government
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rule — a law
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. deal — an agreement

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com